Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A combat drone, one of two jet-powered uncrewed aircraft competing in the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, completed its maiden flight on October 31, 2025, marking a key step toward fielding autonomous “wingmen” to fly alongside crewed fighters.
The flight took place at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California. Anduril said the YFQ-44A executed a mission plan on its own, managed flight control and throttle adjustment independent of human command, and returned to land under operator direction.
“This aircraft is ushering in this new paradigm with incredible technical precision,” said Jason Levin, Anduril’s Senior Vice President for Air Dominance and Strike. “It executes a mission plan on its own, manages flight control and throttle adjustment independent of human command, and returns to land at the push of a button.”
The milestone makes Anduril the second participant in the CCA Increment 1 competition to reach the flight-test phase, following General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, whose YFQ-42A prototype achieved first flight in August 2025 at Gray Butte, California.
Pairing drones with fighters
The Air Force established the CCA program to develop a family of autonomous, jet-powered aircraft that can team with fighters such as the F-22 and F-35. The initiative seeks to deliver what the Air Force calls “affordable mass” — a scalable force of uncrewed aircraft capable of conducting reconnaissance, electronic-warfare, and strike missions while reducing risk to pilots.
“These flights are giving us the hard data we need to shape requirements, reduce risk, and ensure the CCA program delivers combat capability on a pace and scale that keeps us ahead of the threat,” said Air Force Secretary Troy Meink in a public statement announcing the flights of both prototypes.
Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, the creator of Oculus VR, along with former Silicon Valley and defense executives Brian Schimpf, Trae Stephens, Matt Grimm, and Joseph Chen, Anduril Industries develops software-driven defense and security systems that integrate artificial intelligence and autonomous operations. Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, the company’s products include the Lattice command-and-control platform, surveillance towers, counter-UAS systems, and a growing family of unmanned aircraft, including the Ghost reconnaissance drone and the Fury/YFQ-44A combat platform.
Anduril said its YFQ-44A progressed “from clean-sheet design to first flight in 556 days,” highlighting a software-centric approach to development. The aircraft is built around a modular digital backbone called ArsenalOS, designed to enable rapid updates to autonomous behaviors and mission profiles.
The company plans to scale production at its upcoming Ohio facility in 2026 to meet potential CCA production demands.
Developmental flight activities for both the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A will continue at government and vendor test sites, including Edwards AFB and Nellis AFB, according to the Air Force. Data from these sorties will inform tactics, safety assessments, and human-machine teaming concepts as the service defines its first operational CCA squadron later this decade.
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